The Washington critic., 1887-12-06
IN WEST-E HOMES.
Bits of Gossip Being Discussed in WASH
ington Society.

Bits of Gossip Being Discussed in WASH
ington Society.
All sorts of people get into Washing
ton society, or think they do. If this
fact is not patent to the average news
paper reader who has an uncomfortably
long memory for divorce court proceed
ings, he would certainly be impressed
with it if the conversation of almost any
chance meeting Of gossipers was faith
fully reproduced. Just at present the
antics of various females who made
bold and not altogether unsuccessful
entree into official society last winter,
and their audacity in endeavoring to try
it again this season, is the choice bit of
gossip going the rounds. OF one of
Munchausen's best efforts. OF another
the most entertaining morsel is that she
has taken house here with her credit
slightly impaired elsewhere, and that
her most assiduous visitor upto date is a
collector with II 500 bill for last seasons
bonnots. One Of the foreign ministers,
in his innocence of heart and great ad-
miration of feminine good looks and
clever sayings, undertook to honor some
of these unknown social quantities with
u box party. He found all his invitations
to accompany the special guests of honor
charmingly but firmly declined, and he
blundered back, "Wcll, / assure you /
would not have asked them if knew how
hard it would be to get anybody to 90
with them" The sooner this class is
read out of society, the better and
healthier will be the general tone. An
adventures of this character whom
good women will not recognize or asso-
ciate with generally manages to keep up
Il wide circle of men acquaintances, but
it happens very rarely that what is
termed the set here, gets badly fooled
in the ladies admitted to the fold. All
of which shows that its so-called ex-
clusiveness works WELL
They are telling good story in the
West End which illustrates the parsi-
mony which characterizes the home af-
fairs Of many Il fashionable family, who
are at the same time endeavoring to keep
up the greatest pretense of liberal hos
very long ago, the gay and festive son
out-of-town friends, who were guests of
the house. He began to think, soon
after getting comfortably settled at the
theatre, that little supper would round
the evening off nicely. Knowing the
home pantry could not stand any such
shock ms that without previous notice,
he slipped out between the acts and went
to Il convenient caterer, ordering deli
cious midnight repast to be sent home.
1t came before he did with the explana-
tion, and the irate ma and pa first re-
fused to allow the good things to be
brought in, and then seeing they were
outwitted, went to bed in high dudgeon.
When the young man and his party ar
rived, they found the parlors deserted,
but the spread in the dining room was
all right, and with good-humored sister
to preside, the young man was able TO
make quite creditable showing of the
resources of the house in the way of
sumptuous midnight feasts, and went
back to New York with all the glory
of it clinging to him like precious per-
fume.
Mrs. Whitney has added to her collec-
tion of pretty things in her parlors an ar
ray of gorgeous new lamps. One, mas
sive affair, stands ut least seven feet high,
has dark green bronze stand, highly or
namented, and II tall egg-shaped china
bowl, almost transparent in its white
ness, about which is twined an ivy
wreath in bronze. Another has shade
made of gigantic tiger lily, through
which the light CLEANS beautifully.
The ball room has n great deal of new
furniture in gilt and light brocade,
lovely bits of color in the way of scarfs
and hangings here and there, but the
most interesting of all the new things is
life size crayon of cute Baby Dorothy,
which has II prominent position on the
library shelf. A collection of photo
graphs on IL table is not without consid-
cradle value rs depicting contempo-
Ianeous social history. Onereprosents II
fencing scene at the Russian Legation
which was under Mr.. Greger's patron!
age last season. All the prominent
beaux in the diplomatic circle are in
the picture, arrayed in the somewhat
picturesque attire donned for these oc-
casions, and in the background are Il
group of admiring young ladies chaper-
oned by Mrs. Whitney. A book ON the
library table, "My Recitations," Cora
urquhart Potter, recalls the famous
evening when Mrs. Potter may be said
TO have really begun her dramatic career
| i'll the ball room oDDOsitp